Operations suspended as employer continues to assess the situation and gather information
Victoria Gold Corp.’s Eagle Gold Mine in Yukon experienced a “significant” landslide early after a heap leach failure on Monday, according to the employer.
Luckily, no one was hurt in the incident.
The heap leach facility at the mine site uses a cyanide solution to percolate through ore, stacked in 10-metre layers, to dissolve the gold, according to a CBC report.
The mine produces gold from a conventional open pit operation with a three-stage crushing plant, in-valley heap leach and carbon-in-leach adsorption-desorption gold recovery plant, according to Victoria. The mine has year-round road access and personnel, who work a fly-in/fly-out work rotation, are accommodated in a 250-person all-season well-equipped camp.
The mine employs approximately 500 people as well as numerous contractors and consultants.
The Na-Cho Nyäk Dun First Nation was notified of the "significant" slide at the mine site early Monday, Chief Dawna Hope said in the CBC report.
Meanwhile, Victoria has temporarily suspended operations at the Eagle Gold Mine following the incident.
“Operations are temporarily suspended while the site operations team along with management continue to assess the situation and gather information,” Victoria said in a press release. “At this early stage, it can be confirmed that there has been some damage to infrastructure and a portion of the failure has left containment.”
The employer has also informed the Yukon government, and investigation is underway, said John Thompson, a spokesperson for the Yukon government, in the CBC report.
The Yukon Workers' Safety and Compensation Board is also investigating, according to the report.
